Fort Lee releases 911 tapes from GWB lane closures

By FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The Record

FORT LEE — The callers were frantic, frustrated — some even downright irate. At the same time, police dispatchers were trying to help medics and emergency personnel navigate through a gridlocked Fort Lee, suggesting alternate routes.

One after one the calls started pouring in as several local lanes to the George Washington Bridge were intentionally shut down, causing hours-long delays in Fort Lee and the surrounding towns.

More than 20 hours of 911 and dispatch calls were released by the Fort Lee Police Department on Friday documenting aggravated motorists and police and emergency personnel over four days in September.

And while no new information emerged, the recordings paint a picture of the anxiety and confusion caused by the unannounced lane closures that were first reported in The Record.

File/Amy Newman /staff photographer

A driver on Sept. 12, 2013, standing outside his car to assess the backup in traffic at the George Washington Bridge tollbooths in Fort Lee.

“Do you know if anything happened on the bridge?” one person asked around 7:30 on Sept. 9, the first morning of the traffic jams.

Thirteen minutes later, another person warned of traffic on one of the town’s major thoroughfares.

“Be advised, Palisades Avenue is backed up all the way down to Tremont,” the caller said. “Let me know how you make out with communicating with Port Authority.”

As it turns out the Port Authority would be no help. It has since been revealed that the traffic jams were orchestrated by some of Governor Christie’s inner circle, including his former deputy chief of staff and a former executive at the bi-state transportation agency, possibly as a form of political payback to Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing the Republican governor’s reelection bid.

Not only does the scandal now threaten Christie’s presidential ambitions, but the lane closures are the subject of multiple investigations — from the state Legislature to the U.S. Attorney’s Office — into whether the governor or his administration was behind the decision and if any laws were broken.

Christie has repeatedly denied knowing about the lane closures before they occurred and apologized for the way his associates behaved.

But the tapes show the vindictive act had a ripple effect that expanded beyond Mayor Mark Sokolich.

“The George Washington Bridge is totally gridlocked,” one dispatcher said, giving alternate directions to a driver to help circumvent the traffic.

On Sept. 10, one woman called police three times, requesting an ambulance.

“You know, it’s an emergency and they are not still <sic> here,” she said five minutes after her first call, her voice frantic.

Three minutes later, she called again: “Yes, I called. Where are they?” she yelled into the phone.

The dispatcher assured her help was on the way.

The 911 records, obtained over several weeks through public records requests, included reports of chest pains, traffic collisions, false fire alarms and a dead cat in a parking lot.

During the jams, first responders were delayed getting to emergencies and students were late for their first day of school. The borough’s EMS coordinator also documented four medical emergencies where responders were tied up in traffic during the first two days of lane closures, including that of a 91-year-old woman who was unconscious in her home and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Her family said later that they do not believe her death was caused by the delays and that she had passed away before they made the 911 call.

The woman’s home health aide called 911 at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 9, and a dispatcher radioed to medics who responded:

“I’m in traffic.”

Another responder called in about adjacent streets near the bridge.

“We’re figuring Lemoine is packed. Fletcher’s packed.”

A few minutes later, at 8:50 a.m., dispatch receives a call about a 4-year-old who went missing from his school. A description of the child, who was wearing a yellow shirt and blue jacket went out.

The child was later found safe.

While dispatch was sending out reports about the missing child, one person on the line summed up the experience:

Fort Lee releases 911 tapes from GWB lane closures

A driver on Sept. 12, 2013, standing outside his car to assess the backup in traffic at the George Washington Bridge tollbooths in Fort Lee.

By FROM STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

The Record

FORT LEE — The callers were frantic, frustrated — some even downright irate. At the same time, police dispatchers were trying to help medics and emergency personnel navigate through a gridlocked Fort Lee, suggesting alternate routes.

One after one the calls started pouring in as several local lanes to the George Washington Bridge were intentionally shut down, causing hours-long delays in Fort Lee and the surrounding towns.

More than 20 hours of 911 and dispatch calls were released by the Fort Lee Police Department on Friday documenting aggravated motorists and police and emergency personnel over four days in September.

And while no new information emerged, the recordings paint a picture of the anxiety and confusion caused by the unannounced lane closures that were first reported in The Record.

“Do you know if anything happened on the bridge?” one person asked around 7:30 on Sept. 9, the first morning of the traffic jams.

Thirteen minutes later, another person warned of traffic on one of the town’s major thoroughfares.

“Be advised, Palisades Avenue is backed up all the way down to Tremont,” the caller said. “Let me know how you make out with communicating with Port Authority.”

As it turns out the Port Authority would be no help. It has since been revealed that the traffic jams were orchestrated by some of Governor Christie’s inner circle, including his former deputy chief of staff and a former executive at the bi-state transportation agency, possibly as a form of political payback to Fort Lee’s Democratic mayor for not endorsing the Republican governor’s reelection bid.

Not only does the scandal now threaten Christie’s presidential ambitions, but the lane closures are the subject of multiple investigations — from the state Legislature to the U.S. Attorney’s Office — into whether the governor or his administration was behind the decision and if any laws were broken.

Christie has repeatedly denied knowing about the lane closures before they occurred and apologized for the way his associates behaved.

But the tapes show the vindictive act had a ripple effect that expanded beyond Mayor Mark Sokolich.

“The George Washington Bridge is totally gridlocked,” one dispatcher said, giving alternate directions to a driver to help circumvent the traffic.

On Sept. 10, one woman called police three times, requesting an ambulance.

“You know, it’s an emergency and they are not still <sic> here,” she said five minutes after her first call, her voice frantic.

Three minutes later, she called again: “Yes, I called. Where are they?” she yelled into the phone.

The dispatcher assured her help was on the way.

The 911 records, obtained over several weeks through public records requests, included reports of chest pains, traffic collisions, false fire alarms and a dead cat in a parking lot.

During the jams, first responders were delayed getting to emergencies and students were late for their first day of school. The borough’s EMS coordinator also documented four medical emergencies where responders were tied up in traffic during the first two days of lane closures, including that of a 91-year-old woman who was unconscious in her home and was later pronounced dead at a local hospital. Her family said later that they do not believe her death was caused by the delays and that she had passed away before they made the 911 call.

The woman’s home health aide called 911 at 8:46 a.m. on Sept. 9, and a dispatcher radioed to medics who responded:

“I’m in traffic.”

Another responder called in about adjacent streets near the bridge.

“We’re figuring Lemoine is packed. Fletcher’s packed.”

A few minutes later, at 8:50 a.m., dispatch receives a call about a 4-year-old who went missing from his school. A description of the child, who was wearing a yellow shirt and blue jacket went out.

The child was later found safe.

While dispatch was sending out reports about the missing child, one person on the line summed up the experience: